Ro Laren
Ro Laren was a Bajoran national who formerly served in Starfleet aboard the Federation starship ''Enterprise''-D before finally sympathizing with, and later joining the Maquis. Childhood Born in 2340 to Ro Gale and Ro Talia, Ro grew up in the Bajoran diaspora, one of thousands displaced into refugee camps by the Cardassian occupation of her homeworld. During her youth she had spent some time in the camps on Valo II. In 2347, Ro was shown the true nature of the occupation as she was given a piece of sugar candy by a Cardassian who led her to a room where she found her father sitting inside. For the next two hours, she was forced to sit and watch as a Cardassian questioned and tortured her father until he died. Throughout the whole ordeal, Ro felt so ashamed for being a Bajoran. She was ashamed for her father being so weak, as she watched him beg for mercy. Ro eventually could not live in the conditions she grew up in, in an environment where her people were unable to feed and clothe themselves. This became one of the reasons she ran away. Over time, Ro later began to understand how misguided her feelings of shame were, as she chose to no longer be ashamed of her heritage, as she was before. Ro chose to keep her name in traditional form: family name first, given name second. She did this despite the fact that most Bajorans accepted the distortion of their names in order to assimilate. She also strongly favored wearing the traditional Bajoran earring, albeit on the left ear as opposed to the traditional right ear. ("Ensign Ro") Starfleet Career Academy and Early Career Ro entered Starfleet Academy in 2358 and graduated with the class of 2364. ("Contagion") Following her graduation, she served on a number of various starships. One of Ro's early assignments was aboard the [[USS Wellington|USS Wellington]]. During that assignment in the mid-2360s, Ro was a member of the disastrous away team mission to Garon II. During the mission, Ro disobeyed direct orders on the mission, causing the deaths of the eight other officers. Ro was court martialed for her actions and refused to speak in her defense. With little alternative, the court found Ro guilty and sentenced her to imprisonment in the stockade on Jaros II. ("Ensign Ro") USS Enterprise-D First mission In 2368, Ro would later be released by Admiral Kennelly and reinstated into Starfleet in exchange for helping locate a Bajoran terrorist. She would be assigned to assist the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D)|USS Enterprise-D]] on stardate 45076.3 in conducting her mission. Due to her familiarity with the Valo system, she was initially assigned as flight controller. Upon reaching Valo II, she suggested the best route for them to take would be for them to go to the camp on the southern continent to find a man named Keeve Falor. Because the Enterprise was next scheduled to survey sector 21305, and Picard was reluctant to let go of an officer with the potential Ro showed him, he offered for her to stay aboard following her mission. ("Ensign Ro") Later missions On stardate 45571.2, Ro was at the helm when one of the Enterprise shuttlecraft crashed on the surface of a moon of Mab-Bu VI. After a number of the crew became possessed by anionic energy life-forms superimposing neural patterns. During their attempted takeover of the bridge, Ro attempted to shoot the possessed Miles O'Brien, but missed. She was in turn stunned by O'Brien. After the life-form possessed crew members took over Ten-Forward, Ro suggested giving the crew members a plasma shock, as a mean of causing pain to the beings without causing any physical harm. If the plan was to work, and they were able to hit all three with a single discharge, they would cause the beings to evacuate the crew members. La Forge and Ro later attempt a rescue in the small access area between decks, above Ten-Forward. When they finally made their attempt, they were unable to get all three crew members in the beam, which eventually led to the abortion of their rescue attempt. ("Power Play") On stardate 45652.1, Ro served on the bridge during an encounter with a temporal causality loop. She interrupted a staff meeting to report that sensors were getting unusual readings twenty thousand kilometers off the port bow. She noted that sensors did not detect the phenomenon until the ship was almost on top of it. As she attempted to back the Enterprise off from the phenomenon, she reported that the maneuvering thrusters were not responding, and as a ship emerged and she attempted to back the ship off, she reported that the helm was not responding. In an alternate version of events, when the Enterprise collided with the [[USS Bozeman|USS Bozeman]], which had emerged from the phenomenon, Ro reported that the Enterprise''s inertial dampers were failing and that the ship was losing attitude control moments before it was destroyed and Ro died. (TNG: "Cause and Effect") The Maquis In 2370 Ro was assigned to infiltrate the Maquis. Although a bit reluctent she agreed, partially to validate Captain Picard's belief in her. By having lieutenant commanders Data, and Worf claim she killed a Cardassian soldier in a DMZ settlement bar she gained the attention of a Maqui. She was kidnapped by Santos and was briefly questioned by him, Kalita and Macias. Macias immediately took a liking to her and trusted her even before her story was verified by Santos. He eventually became an almost father-like figure. She later gained the trust of the rest of the Maquis by "stealing" medical supplies from the Enterprise-D. After gaining the Maquis trust, she had them plan to invest significant resources to attack a Uridian Convoy which in actuality was a Federation trap. Soon after three Cardassians attacked the area near the Maquis cell, and killed Macias who with his dying breath told Ro "When an old fighter like me dies, someone always steps foward to take his place". She started questioning her loyalties, and tried to have the "Uridian Convoy Trap" canceled by claiming the Maquis would not invest resources to attack. However Picard saw through her lies and questioned her resolve. She claimed she would carry out her duties but Picard had Commander Riker accompany her to the attack. During the attack she drew a phaser on Riker. She also fired a low intensity particle beam, which created a polarizing effect that revealed a Starfleet attack force hiding in a nebula near the bogus Convoy. When the Maqui retreated she had her ship move towards the Enterprise so Riker could leave. She claimed "It's been a long time since I really felt like I belonged somewhere" when asked why she was going with the Maquis. Just before she beamed to another Maquis ship, she asked Riker to tell Picard that she was sorry for betraying his trust. (TNG: "Preemptive Strike") Relationships Jean-Luc Picard Although initially opposing Ro's assignment aboard the ''Enterprise, Captain Picard was impressed with the way she handled the situation. Following the mission, he told her she was free to leave the ship, but as a personal request, he wanted her to consider remaining in Starfleet. During their last mission together, he observed her potential and noticed a certain quality about her that could possibly be harnessed and molded. Although Ro was flattered with his words, she didn't feel she belonged in the uniform. Picard believed that she had a lot to learn from Starfleet, and she retorted that she felt Starfleet had a lot to learn from her. Picard felt that attitude was common among the best officers he had served with, and that although she was not one of those officers, someday she could be one, if she decided to work at it. Ro accepted Picard's "interesting challenge", something she rarely refused, and in return, at Ro's request, Picard allowed her to bend the Starfleet uniform code and wear her traditional Bajoran earring. ("Ensign Ro", "Preemptive Strike") William T. Riker Commander Riker was not thrilled with the assignment of Ro to the Enterprise, and demanded nothing but the highest standards of performance from her. Upon her initial beam-in, Riker was on her for wearing her traditional Bajoran earring, which was not allowed according to the Starfleet uniform code. Riker later shared his concerns with Picard, stating that there would be members of the crew who would not want to serve with Ro. Riker was impudent to Ro's acceptance of her assignment aboard the Enterprise, which he stated that "it was better than prison." ("Ensign Ro", "Contagion", "Preemptive Strike") Geordi La Forge Geordi La Forge believed that the only reason she was on her initial mission was because of orders, as he believed that she didn't belong aboard the Enterprise, nor did she belong in a Starfleet uniform. (TNG: "Ensign Ro", "The Next Phase") Deanna Troi (TNG: "Disaster", "Contagion") Guinan Guinan became interested in Ro after learning a bit about her past from La Forge. (TNG: "Ensign Ro", "Rascals") Appendices Appearances *TNG: ** "Ensign Ro" ** "Disaster" ** "Conundrum" ** "Power Play" ** "Cause and Effect" ** "The Next Phase" ** "Rascals" ** "Preemptive Strike" Background * Ensign Ro was played by Michelle Forbes and first appeared in the fifth season TNG episode named for her. Many personal details are derived from her personnel file seen onscreen in TNG: "Conundrum" and TNG: "The Next Phase." * During the production of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, it was intended that Ro Laren would a member of the station's crew. Michelle Forbes turned it down. The character was modified and became the basis for Kira Nerys. Apocrypha Ro Laren is a main character in the Deep Space Nine Relaunch novels, replacing Odo as Chief of Security on DS9. de:Ro Laren Ro Laren Ro Laren Ro Laren Ro Laren